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Michelle Wie tries to make PGA history
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-12 09:34
That's not far off.
 Wie wanted to make the cut when she played as a 14-year-old amateur,
and she almost did. She made putts from here to Waikiki Beach, fed off the
electricity in the crowd and the sense of the moment, closed with a birdie and
shot 68. It remains the lowest score by a female on a men's tour.
But it was one shot away from playing on the weekend.
The next year, the wind and her putting left her without much of a chance
from the start, and she missed by seven. Then came the John Deere Classic, where
Wie again dazzled spectators and television viewers and was poised to make the
cut until a double bogey on the 16th and a bogey on the 17th. She missed by two.
She also missed the cut at the Casio World Open in Japan by one shot,
courtesy of a bogey-bogey finish.
"I'm hoping it will be a lot better," she said of this year's trip down the
street to Waialae, where she already has played five rounds in the last week.
"Hopefully, I can make the cut."
Under the spotlight like no other player at the Sony Open, that will be how
she is measured.
Then again, everyone has expectations of Wie.
Some criticize her as an underachiever for not winning anything since the
U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links at 13. Others wonder why she is wasting her
time competing against the men when she still hasn't beaten the women.
"Right now, the PGA is a yardstick to see where she's at," swing coach David
Leadbetter said.
No one questions her ability, only when — or whether — she can fulfill her
potential.
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